A personal blog on fatherhood, music and more

Met with my friend Nick at the weekend. He has been writing a fanzine ‘A Short Fanzine About Rocking’ for 13 years now, since we were students in Manchester. Actual printed fanzines have fallen out of and come back into fashion any number of times, but still he has continued.

Unfortunately though, the next issue will be the last. A sad moment for me personally, as until recently writing a handful of reviews for each issue was the only writing about music I did. I enjoyed the craft of trying to summarize my opinions on an album in a very limited wordcount, and tried to avoid the temptation to over-praise or over-criticize an album just for the sake of making the review more entertaining.

It’s also sad however, for what it represents. The responsibilities of the adult world have finally left Nick without the time to devote to the fanzine, in much the same way that I worry that having children will make it hard for me to devote time to my passions. (I hasten to add that in Nick’s case, the responsibilities in question do not yet include children, unless he is hiding something!)

But still, Nick loves music as much as ever, in fact the reason I met up with him was that he was in town for something called Outbreak Festival (our music tastes have diverged somewhat since our University days). I’m sure he will find different ways of being involved in music, just I have. Having children, or other responsibilities, may make it harder to find time, but it won’t stop you unless you let it.